Milkman delivers in San Antonio

The milkman cometh — againA San Antonio entrepreneur bought a truck, started knocking on doors, and now he delivers fresh goods

WALKER MOSKOP, STAFF WRITER

Published
5:30 am CDT, Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Darren Chelin, aka the milkman, fills out an order while making deliveries in San Antonio's far northwest side. Chelin is the owner of Dairy Fresh Home Deliveries and services 260 households. "I saw a need for a service, and I went for it," he said. less

Darren Chelin, aka the milkman, fills out an order while making deliveries in San Antonio's far northwest side. Chelin is the owner of Dairy Fresh Home Deliveries and services 260 households. "I saw a need for ... more

Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News

Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News

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Darren Chelin, aka the milkman, fills out an order while making deliveries in San Antonio's far northwest side. Chelin is the owner of Dairy Fresh Home Deliveries and services 260 households. "I saw a need for a service, and I went for it," he said. less

Darren Chelin, aka the milkman, fills out an order while making deliveries in San Antonio's far northwest side. Chelin is the owner of Dairy Fresh Home Deliveries and services 260 households. "I saw a need for ... more

His office is the cab of a truck and the front stoops of a city. In cargo shorts, tennis shoes and sunglasses, he spends nearly 15 hours a day driving, parking and jogging to doors. Start. Stop. Run. Knock. Repeat.

The life of a milkman.

In an era of megamarts and gourmet supermarkets, some may view Chelin, 40, as somewhat of a relic, an idiosyncratic "I'm my own boss" vendor who still sells milk and groceries door-to-door to puzzled homeowners.

He doesn't appear to care. "I saw a need for a service, and I went for it," he said.

Nor does he mind the hours. "I was raised on you get your self-worth out of how hard you work," he said, adding, "If I go home early, I feel like I'm cheating myself."

In 2009, Chelin moved to Mico, about 35 miles west of San Antonio in Medina County, to escape the cold of Minnesota, where he'd been a milkman for 10 years. After a brief stint as a dirt bike mechanic, he reverted to what he knew best.

Last year, he entered what he saw as an untapped market for milk delivery in San Antonio. As far has he could tell, Schwan's, an online grocery service, was the only competition.

With no customers and a wife and three kids to support, he spent most of his savings on a $40,000 delivery truck, got connected with Borden Dairy and Mrs Baird's bakery (he pays wholesale prices) and opened up Dairy Fresh Home Delivery.

"I've always told Darren I'd live in a cardboard box with him," said his wife, Shawna. "But geez, I didn't know we'd be so close."

She holds three part-time jobs, but most of their financial future depends on the success of Dairy Fresh.

Early stress, then success

He got off to a discouraging start. Less than two weeks passed before the truck's transmission broke.

The early days were stressful - as are some of the current ones. But despite people's bemusement that milkmen still roam the earth, Chelin has recruited 250 to 300 customers, many of whom are older or have families.

Some like the nostalgia of a milkman or enjoy helping a guy who runs his own shop. Others say ordering groceries cuts back on impulse buying. But a commonly held dislike of going to the store is the key driver for Chelin's business.

"I can stay in my pajamas and not fight the crowds," said Mary Ann Untermeyer, who said she dropped her shopaholic ways after signing up with Chelin several months ago. "And he's never not shown up."

Others like that he tries to get to know them.

"He's such a personable young man," said Alice Serafin, 70. "And I can say that because I'm an old lady."

Several customers said they found Chelin's prices to be comparable to those in grocery stores. For a gallon of 2 percent milk, he charges $3.99. His average total food order per customer is for about $25, Chelin said.

As his customer base has grown, he's added to the products he offers: He now carries a variety of meats, frozen foods, cereal and, of course, most dairy products.

'He just goes, goes, goes'

Even with growing success, he has deflating days when customers don't place orders and potential ones don't answer doorbells. But he never comes home crabby, Shawna Chelin said.

"He doesn't stop," she said. "He just goes, goes, goes."

He wore a pedometer to work once. At the day's end, he said, it read 15 miles.

He begins before dawn, delivering to people who leave a cooler and an order sheet on a porch or in a garage; he said about 20 percent of customers give him a house key or garage code. From there, he makes about 70 deliveries and visits distributors to restock in the late afternoon.

"A friend in Minnesota went on a ride with me one time and he said, 'You know, the first eight hours isn't bad. It's the second eight hours that gets to you,' " Chelin said.

If he's ahead of schedule, Chelin takes on the least-favorite part of his job: Going door-to-door for new customers. His pitch is thorough, enthusiastic and a bit rapid-fire. He begins, "Hi, I'm the milkman. Ever heard of one of those?"

He is met by smiling older couples who order chicken breasts, hesitant men who listen with a half-closed door, and others who tersely ask that he be on his way.

But until he gets at least one new customer, the day isn't over.

Planning for the future

One buyer at a time, Chelin hopes to expand Dairy Fresh. He's on pace to be able to buy another truck and hire an employee within a year, he said. He makes deliveries near Medina Lake, as well as by Alamo Ranch and other areas in far west Bexar County. His goal is eventually servicing the entire city.

But he's not there yet, and until he's close, he said he'll keep working long hours .

Written on a small dry-erase board inside his truck's rear compartment is a phrase he often repeats to himself, an explanation for the only way a business like his can grow: "More no's = more yeses."